You’ll recall last weeks adventure retrieving the Spartanette trailer, and that under the mess and debris, the better if looked, and smelled. After three days of scrubbing, bleaching, throwing out more and more stuff, I finally got to the trailers “bones”, and it was amazingly good. So good, I was tempted to keep it. We have some family property up north, and have talked for some time about getting a large vintage trailer to park in the big pines next to a beautiful little pond. As tempting as this was, one more project didn’t seem like good idea. Kim and I agreed we’d both be worried about leaving a classic trailer unattended for fear of vandalism or theft. Besides, for what we’d spend restoring this Spartanette, we could have a site cleared, electric brought in and drive a shallow well, and take the Manor up.
So I mentioned it on the Tin Can Tourists Facebook page.
i was inundated with responses, and a fellow TCT member from Indiana bought it. I had a friend from high school and fellow hot rodder and trailer enthusiast standing in the driveway looking at and drooling while I sealed the deal on the phone, and a list of people who said they wanted it if either of those folks passed. That’s the way to sell something!
It ultimately cleaned up very well, with only very minor work needed. The paneling is BEAUTIFUL, no water damage under any of the windows, the varnish still gleams. No rot, the only damage anywhere is the cabinet above the sink and a ceiling panel where water leaked in through holes in the skin from an awning rail long removed. The ceiling will be easy, the joist is not rotted, just a firing strip attached to it that the paneling attaches to (the seam and the joist didn’t line up, so it was had a firing strip added to meet the paneling seam) and the paneling can even be saved. The cabinet repair will be a little challenging, but there’s enough left of the beautiful curved front to cut the bad off, put a new flat bottom piece on a narrow trim strip. It’ll look like it was supposed to be that way. We kept the Dixie stove and fridge, replaced the fridge with a great but smaller Marvel that I kept beer in, and the Dixie stove that had been damaged in transport here breaking all the knobs. I left the cool, and very rare Bargman door latches and handles (even though we need them for our Manor), the beautiful glass tail light lenses and stainless bezels, and the two marker lights that were still on it when we got home from Ionia. I figured those items would be needed by a new owner to make the trailer worth restoring. Our friend Mike at Sierra Custom Interiors is going to have the fridge converted to an RV gas/electric unit, so we got we want and the trailer is going to get the restoration it deserves.
Everybody wins!
Time capsule cupboard.
Cool Dixie stove.
Frigidaire fridge by GM to be converted RV gas/electric unit.
I hated to leave these Bargman handles and latches, they’re made of unobtainium.
Cool McCool's Garage 